James Franklin’s firing as head coach at Penn State jumpstarted the 2025 coaching carousel, causing ripples throughout the college football landscape.
With rumors swirling in State College and elsewhere, conversation about Franklin’s replacement dominated the national conversation, with many sitting head coaches being mentioned as candidates.
Here are updates on some of the coaches who’ve been mentioned in the search for the Nittany Lions’ next leader.
Matt Rhule
A former Penn State walk-on linebacker and graduate assistant, the Nebraska head coach was instantly linked to the opening for his ability to elevate programs and his ties to the university.
When asked about the rumors, Rhule dismissed them but didn’t deny the possibility of coming to Happy Valley.
“I love it here [at Nebraska] … I’m not going to talk a lot about job openings when they come. Maybe it’s been awhile here, but this is what happens when you win,” Rhule said.
Rhule, a State College Area High School graduate, also has ties to athletic director Pat Kraft, who hired him as the head coach at Temple.
“I love Penn State, met my wife (at Penn State), it’s my alma mater,” Rhule said. “I probably had a Penn State shirt when I was born. I love Pat Kraft. I’m really sad to see coach Franklin go.”
While he spoke glowingly of the university and seemed to leave the door open, Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola seemed adamant Rhule would remain in Lincoln, saying “he ain’t going nowhere.”
Curt Cignetti
The Indiana head coach was one of the top names initially, but he quickly shut down those rumors and became the first head coach to sign an extension following Franklin’s dismissal, getting a raise to roughly $11.6 million annually, third most in college football.
“We’ve accomplished a lot here in a short amount of time, but still have a lot of work to do,” Cignetti said. “I couldn’t be more proud to be a Hoosier and I plan on retiring as a Hoosier.”
Manny Diaz
The former Nittany Lion defensive coordinator and current Duke head coach spoke somewhat cryptically about the head coaching vacancy at Penn State, not revealing much about his interest.
“There’s three things you go through when you’re a coach,” Diaz said. “You’re in the honeymoon phase, you’re in the ‘please don’t leave’ phase and you’re in the ‘please leave now’ phase, right? And, what I just told you is it can change in three weeks. You have got to be present of where you are. And, the second you start thinking about what’s next, you’re about to get it.”
Kenny Dillingham
When asked about his name popping up in conversation, the Arizona State head coach said he was unaware he was being mentioned.
“I thought I was being talked about being fired. I didn’t know I was being talked about that,” Dillingham said. “My brain doesn’t process that.”
Eli Drinkwitz
The Missouri head coach was asked about being associated with job openings after a string of success with the Tigers, and he seemingly denied any connection to other jobs while expressing his disapproval of the rumors and the impact they can have.
“I got problems of my own,” Drinkwitz said. “I think the No. 1 issue right now among college football is the noise associated with programs at all points of the season, whether good, bad or indifferent … I’ll bet every sitting head coach has been listed as a candidate for some job so far. As a team, as a coach, we gotta ignore the noise and focus on the things we can control, which is winning and losing football games.”
Alex Golesh
Amid one of the most successful seasons in program history, the USF head coach dismissed the notion entirely, saying he “legitimately couldn’t care less at this point” on the “Off Campus” show on Sirius XM.
“I’ve not said a word to anybody,” Golesh said. “I’ve not thought about it for one second … I’ve never been able to think about anywhere or anything else other than what I’m doing. I think part of that is just how I’ve been brought up and how I operate.”
Fran Brown
Amid his second year at the helm with Syracuse, Brown was asked about the opening and declined to address the rumors, stating his focus on the current season with the Orange and calling the question “disrespectful.”
“I’m working at Syracuse right now, so I don’t really need to talk about that,” Brown said. “If this wasn’t where I wanted to be at the moment, would I be standing here?”
Lane Kiffin
While Kiffin hasn’t directly been asked about coaching rumors, video shows him pointing down at the field and seemingly yelling “I’m staying here” to the student section following Ole Miss’ 34-26 road win over then-No. 13 Oklahoma.
Kiffin’s name has been mentioned occasionally for Penn State’s vacancy, but has more frequently been associated with the recent opening at Florida. His actions suggest he’s not going to either school.
